Isolation of downhole environments depends on the deployment of a downhole tool that effectively seals the entirety of the borehole or a portion thereof, for example, an annulus between a casing wall and production tube. Swellable packers, for example, are particularly useful in that they automatically expand to fill the cross-sectional area of a borehole in response to one or more downhole fluids. Consequently, swellable packers can be placed in borehole locations that have a smaller inner diameter than the cross-sectional area of the fully expanded swellable packer. However, certain downhole conditions, such as the presence of monovalent and polyvalent cations (e.g., Ca2+, Zn2+, etc.) in the aqueous downhole fluids contacting the swellable packer, tend to decrease both the amount of swelling and the rate at which the packer swells, and may also accelerate degradation of the packer. In order to overcome these issues and to continually improve upon swelling efficiency under a variety of conditions, the industry is always desirous of new and alternate swelling systems.